11/13/25 Regular Meeting of the Governing Board

001Everyone, thank you for your patience as we completed our closed session. [clears throat] I would like to call this meeting to order. Today's date is Thursday, November 13, 2025. This is the regular meeting of the governing board of the San Marcos Unified School District. Please let the record reflect that all board members are present. The San Marcos Unified School District Board of Education meeting is a business meeting of the board held in public. While we welcome and encourage public participation, the expected behavior is that this meeting will be conducted in an orderly fashion. Only the person recognized by the board president may speak. While the member of that p of the public is speaking, members of the audience must not yell or speak out. reg regardless of whether you agree or disagree. While public comment

002is in progress, if you speak out, you're out of order and will be asked to leave. As adults participating in a public meeting, we need to model civility. And to our children and students, on behalf of the board of education, we thank you in advance for helping us conduct this meeting respectfully. Just a reminder of our mission statement. The San Marcos Unified School District is an innovative and collaborative community providing an unparalleled educational experience through an engaging and supportive environment. All of our students are challenged, inspired, and poised to excel. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. >> Ready? Begin. >> I alian to the One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Hey, do I have a motion to approve the agenda? And I'll second. Moved by member Carlson, second

003seconded by member Ahmad to approve the agenda as presented. Student board members, please say your vote. >> I I. >> All those in favor, say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Report of action taken in close session. Tonight, the board met in close session and discussed student expulsion case number 02-25.26. No action was taken. Next, the board discussed matters pertaining to public employee employment, transfer, appointment, discipline, dismissal, release, evaluation, and reassignment. So, in close session today, um [clears throat] by motion of member Ahmad and seconded by member Heric, the board approved the settlement agreement and release of certified employee number effective June 11th, 2026 by the following vote. Eyes. Member Carlson, member Martine, member Ahmad, member Heric, and member Mium. No nays and no abstaining. [clears throat] Okay. All right. um reports by student board

004members. Good evening everyone. My name is Inara Mod. I'm the San Marcos High School student board rep and I'm going to share what our school has been up to. To start off with my presentation topics, I'll be talking about what's going on around campus, student highlights, staff highlights, sports, and what's coming up. To start off with the around campus, we had our Disco Bowl week, which is our week leading up to our infamous game against Mission Hills with a fun competition held at Chick-fil-A to see who could eat the most at Chick-fil-A. It was really fun. We had a whole week where we had a bunch of school spirit brought together. We had a bunch of fun challenges and days to eat as much Chick-fil-A as we possibly could. Next, we have an FFA update.

005Our FFA officers competed in the Southern Region opening and closing contest. They placed fifth in the off officer team division and Charlie Stone was awarded the outstanding secretary award. And then we had also our link crew conference which was for the first time ever held at San Marcos High School connecting multiple schools within the program. Technical difficulties. Yeah. that. Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. Moving on to student highlights, we have our San Marcos High School choir, which on Veterans Day, they celebrated our veterans with music at the San Marcos Veterans Day ceremony. Next, we have our staff highlights. We wanted to highlight Miss Brown, an English teacher and mockt trial coach at our high school. She's an amazing teacher who always has her do door open and is supportive to all student. Next, sports. We had

006our disco bowl. We did lose, but it was all in fun. And our blue crew did an amazing job at hyping up our student section and enjoying our time at the game. And then our boys water polo finished their very eventful season. And then what's coming up? We have our SMHS drama department I an ideal husband. Our show dates are November 14th at 5:30 p.m. um 11:15 at 1:00 p.m. and 6 pm. Thank you. Hi, welcome. My name is Madison Zasua and I'm the Mission Hills student board representative representative. To start, I want to thank our veterans and I want to um give a shout out to Mr. Powell, our NJRTC program teacher who is also a Navy veteran. It's not working. think it's just stuck on in this in this bit. Let's try it.

007There we go. >> Okay. To start, I wanted to um give a shout out to Mission because we won the Discovery Bull and the Chick-fil-A challenge this year. Um we had a great pep rally and a great grow crowd turnout. We also had a spirit week to get everybody engaged that couldn't make it to the game or support the Chick-fil-A challenge um to really raise our school community. We also wanted to thank San Marcos for um keeping the tradition alive. Next, we have our drama and band department. Um our drama department had a successful and then there were none a production. They had a lot of hard work and preparation to make the show successful. Our band also recently went to Utah and they broke multiple school records. Um, and they're super grateful for the

008band community and the pro how big the program is expanding. Um, and coming up they have their CSBC SoCal Championship. Next, we have our girls golf team. This year they have one varsity team, an A string and a B string. and it has been the best season that Mission Hills girls golf has seen in a long time. Um they've gone to CIF with multiple players um going into day two of CIFs. Um we also had our top player Jessica Hudson um commit to Cal State Fullerton. Our ASB program put on an offenda for diia de los muertos um through our diversity commission. We also started a new program this month called Grizzlies of the den where different musicians, athletes, and leaders go to younger um schools for outreach and bringing our mission community into those

009schools. So, they recently went to Twin Oaks for Red Ribbon Week and Double Peak for the Turkey Trot. Our upcoming events are gratitude week. Um, we're starting our annual adopt a family donations um in collaboration with Twin Oaks, San Marcos, and Paloma Elementary. We also have a canned food drive um so students can get community service hours for the clubs or programs that they are in. Um, Mission Versus Cathedral is also this Friday at 7:15 in Open Division semifinals. The theme is neon and we hope to see you there. Thank you and have a great fall break. Thank you, Inara and Maddie. I always enjoy your presentations. I especially love the little bit of a school tension. It's okay. It's all good. All right. communication session per education code 35145.5 and government code 54954.3. Members

010of the public have the opportunity to provide public comment on any agenda item as well as any non-aggenda item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board. Per board bylaw 9323, individual speakers will be allowed up to three minutes to address the board on each agenda or non-aggenda item except for our union representatives who will have 5 minutes. In accordance with board bylaw 9323, public comments will be limited to 20 minutes per topic. Per the Brown Act, members of the board are very limited in their ability to respond to statements or questions made during public comment. Unless an item has been placed on the published agenda, there shall be no deliberation or action taken. The board may one acknowledge receipt of that information report and comment. Two, refer the staff to further study

011or three refer the matter to the next agenda. A recording is made of all open sessions of the governing board. Again, on behalf of the board of education, we thank you in advance for helping us conduct this meeting respectfully. Susie, do we have any speakers? >> Yes, we do. Um, and Eddie Newman. >> Good evening, board members. My name is Eddie Von Newman. On September 8th, I was kicked out of the office at Double Peak. I hadn't disrupted anything. I was just a dad waiting quietly to pick up my kids. Weeks later, I was told that my behavior constituted a material disturbance under ED code 44811, which is a misdemeanor offense. In later discussions, I was informed that even using the restroom, asking a non-urgent question, or sitting in the office without an urgent appointment

012could all be considered material disturbances, according to the district. If this sounds absurd, it's because quite frankly it is. When I went to HR hoping for help, I was instead hit with a communication restriction and accused of sending emails harassing in nature. My so-called harassment following up with 125 emails over 43 days trying to get this resolved before I began medical treatment for stress related illness. Under California law, harassment means willful conduct that seriously harms, harasses, or serves no legitimate purpose. My communications were the exact opposite, focused on policy, purposeful and relevant, directed at every proper administrative channel. They met none of the statutory elements for harassment. So I asked myself, if if if asking questions is harassment and sitting quietly is a misdemeanor, what's next? So I called the district's bluff. I asked plainly,

013either charge me criminally or so I can have due process in court or acknowledge my actions are lawful. Of course, they've done neither because they know the accusations will not stand up in court. When a district uses criminal statutes loosely and without due process, it undermines the rule of law itself because laws are meant to protect fairness, not to be used as tools of fear. I researched what a real material disturbance would be and I found in Castro v. Supreme Court, adults organized students to leave campus during the and form a protest. In Oena v. Lusd, a parent made repeated violent threats and sent photos of himself with weapons. To claim that my waiting quietly meets the same threshold is a gross mislication of the law. The district keeps hanging these legal threats over my

014head and it feels strategic, meant to keep me afraid instead of engaged as a partner. So what does resolution look like? Acknowledging the truth if my actions were lawful or unlawful. Establishing clear office policy without misusing ED code or criminal language. ending the practice of legal intimidation and seeking or invoking or accusing without evidence of parents. Conduct a a corrective review to ensure administration and HR follow the law properly and consistently. My son Odin says, "Why tell kids to show to show leadership when you're not. It should not be a parent risking legal jeopardy to get straight answers. Instead, it should be a healthy relationship with the district and a genuine partnership with parents." Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Newman. I know you've been working with the district uh personnel and I

015would encourage you to continue doing so. I hopefully we can find a resolution to this. Thank you though. >> All right. Um any other speakers? >> Gretchen Foster. >> Good evening members of the board. My name is Gretchen Foster and I am reading a statement on behalf of my daughter Kate Foster who could not be here because she's at an FFA speaking competition right now. Kate is an active member of FFA, proudly serving her second year as San Marcos High School FFA president and as the regional vice president representing over 18,000 members across Southern California. I am here tonight to urge you to keep the floral design program within the agricultural pathway because it is so much more than just a class. The program builds leaders. It teaches realworld handson skills that prepare students for

016their futures. Skills like financial management, customer relations, problem solving, and leadership. In the floral classroom, students don't just create arrangements, they calculate cost. They manage clients. They learn and learn entrepreneurship, agricultural science, and agro business. They are gaining skills that translate directly into the workforce and into life. As a student, Kate has seen firsthand how this program transforms lives. It gives even the quietest, most introverted students the confidence to step up, compete, and lead. It builds communication, creativity, and career readiness that no traditional business class can replicate. Agricultural education stands on a three ring model: classroom instruction, FFA leadership, and supervised agricultural experience. While many people see livestock projects at the Delmare Fair, few see hard-working students whose passion lies in horiculture. Why should students who love plants and floral design be forced to take

017animal or veterary science just to be able to stay in FFA? It is unfair to ask them to choose between their passions and their opportunities for scholarships, leadership, and personal growth. Members of the board, I urge you to recognize the students who thrive in horiculture. The ones who want a VAPA that aligns with their agricultural interest. The Florida design pathway embodies academic rigor, business principles, and agricultural relevance. By keeping floral design and agriculture, you are not only preserving a class, you are investing in a future workforce and the future leaders of our community. Thank you. >> Thank you, Gretchen. >> Paola Sudo and we have interpretation. So, it'll be set for six minutes. Dr. Johnson. >> Good evening, President Ahmad, esteemed members of the board, members of cabinet, and Dr. Johnson. My name is Paola

018Sto and I am the proud member of our district's English learner advisory committee representing San Marcos Middle School. My son Gabriel is currently a seventh grader at San Marcos Middle School and I am currently taking English classes through the San Marcos Adult School. San Marcos. Interpreting for me this evening is Emiro, a student at San Marcos High School, taking the interpreting and translating classes from which she will graduate with a certificate from Cal State San Marcos. Truly future ready. One of the goals for our DACA committee this year is to attend board meetings and share with you what we are currently learning and focusing on during our DAC meetings. Excellent. This year we have had two meetings and have learned about the percentage of emergent bilingual in our district and heard about the amazing CTE

019opportunities available to our children. We have also had a presentation from the migrant education department and about the many services available for migrant families. collabor. Our committee members look forward to being here for future meetings and addressing the board. We thank you for your continued collaboration and support as we work together to educate our English learner population. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Report by S. Oh, >> we still have more. >> I'm sorry. Sorry. >> Charlie Foster. >> Good evening, members of the board and Dr. Johnson. Uh, my name is Charlie Foster, parent of Kate Foster, president of the San Marcos FFA program. Uh I also want to urge the board to reconsider moving the floral design classes uh at San Marcos High out of the agriculture department. This is the

020only horiculture class at San Marcos High and removing it from agriculture would take away the opportunity for 200 students who are passionate about plants to be in the FFA program. I've seen the benefits of FFA for both my daughter and other kids in the program including those who are passionate about horiculture and not just animals. Uh floral design is fundamental fundamentally art of design and retail management in aggra business applied through a floral lens. As mentioned previously, students in the SMHS floral design class do not just arrange flowers. They learn hard science and technical skills, financial and inventory management, and customer relations and service. This class definitely prepares students to be future ready. Removing this class from the established agriculture pathway limits opportunities for students uh like the competition the FFA students are at this

021evening. I would again urge the board to reconsider moving floral design classes out of agriculture. Thank you for your consideration. >> Thank you. And u and to that point I I do want to say that um I have I've received a lot of emails and we and we've all read them. Um staff will be following up with you guys. Thank you. Thank you, >> Kyle S. >> Sorry, I just wanted to say to the foster family, I had the pleasure of meeting your daughter before coming to this meeting. >> Good evening. My name is Kyle Self and I currently serve as the regional president for FFA in Southern California. It is my understanding that this board is considering taking floral design classes at San Marcos High School outside of the agricultural program. I must challenge

022that not all CTE is equally comprehensive. A education is based on the three ring model of class classroom instruction involvement in FFA leadership and supervised agricultural projects. This model provides students with invaluable agricultural knowledge and leadership skills the opportunity to practice what they've learned in a risk-free environment and opens doorways for those students futures. By cutting or replacing the floral program from the ACT department, you are depriving 200 students of those opportunities. When I first stepped into an ad class, I was frankly shy and unmotivated. But in that ad class, I found hands-on learning experiences that taught me confidence, passion, and gave me purpose. I then had the opportunity to expand on that through a projects where I learned veterary skills, conducted scientific research, and even interned with the University of California. Through in through

023involvement in FFA competitions and conferences, I learned how to repair machinery, develop marketing plans, speak publicly, and debate respectfully. I also learned how to work with others, and most importantly, put service above self. All of this led to a big door for me in receiving a full tuition scholarship at any university I choose. This is my journey. But hundreds of thousands of FFA members across the nation share similar and unique stories like this, including the ones at San Marcos High School. Research from Purdue University shows that involvement in FFA and A projects is linked with higher academic success, stronger career readiness, and even higher standardized test scores. Another study by the same university shows that FFA members report FFA involvement was a large reason why they continue to show up to school day after day

024and were committed to their academic work. FFA alumni overwhelmingly report that FFA has shaped their careers with most now working in agricultural areas and or holding senior level positions in the companies that they work in. Although an additional business CTE pathway may very well be beneficial to the students at San Marcos High School, these floral design classes provide students with knowledge of the floor floor cultural industry, business practices, and priceless experiences in FFA and supervised a projects. Members of the board, please do not take those opportunities away from those students. Maintain the San Marcos High School floor pathway within the agricultural department. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, Denise Godfrey. >> Good evening. Um, thanks so much for having me. And um, man, that was really hard. Boom. Tough to follow up, but um, I'm

025here also to just talk about the importance of the the A floor culture program. And uh, and I think normally I'd be with your daughter Kate and judging, but this was far too important to let you know what what exactly I've seen. Um, so my name's Denise. I uh, my parents started a nursery 52 years ago. I I run and manage that nursery and um we've been in San Diego County in the Fork area. I I have to tell you, I love my job and uh I love seeing the joy that flowers and plants bring people. Um I grow smiles. I grow happiness and uh it I've had so many opportunities to share that with you know the different FFA people that have toured my place and I you know the questions and everything else.

026Um, looking at Crystal, Laura, and Stephanie. Um, there's so many times I I, you know, go to attend their meetings. They're always there, you know, after hours. They're trying to learn more, trying to give back to their students. And if they grow anything, they grow people. And citizens that are ready to contribute to their community. The leaders exper leadership experience grows the confidence, poise and articulate young people ground and rooted in core values. Um I'm so sorry. They um they've um these students have developed for themselves these you know just intrinsic what's right, what's wrong, what they need to guide themselves, you know that compass. And um it's so cool to see you know what they you know what happens after that you know they have that strength and that um you know they aren't

027fear you know they go into a situation completely fearless they don't worry about failure in new situations they have the courage to speak up and the kindness to help others citizenship our community needs to grow and thrivefa is not about the future farmers of America it's about nurturing America's future I think that's one thing that's so tough is like this was something was created back when you know one in four people five people were on the farm and we're you know 1.2% 2% now. So maybe FFA needs a rebranding. So, but if we're talking about the foundations of um you they're working in the classroom and as Kyle mentioned, you know, they have all these neat experiences outside of the classroom and you know to have that kinesthetic, you know, just ability to go out

028and do things is just so important for how people learn and just like you said, you know, they get excited about, you know, school being there and it's just like I don't want to see that kind of stuff go Okay. And through the nurturing of plants and animals and people >> It's time. I'm sorry. >> Can you You want to email us what you were about to say? >> Can I just like >> How much more do you have? >> Just a little bit. >> Maybe 30 seconds. Is that >> um just I was going to say that they become more self-aware, empathetic. um building while building trust, actively listening, verbal, nonverbal communication, working together to learn the basics of coaching and participating in courageous conversations and rather than diminishing the impact of FFA to

029200 plus students, let's get the kids more involved. >> Thank you. Thank you. Sorry. I just wanted to add that I was fortunate enough to attend the FFA banquet last year with the Fosters and it was amazing and outstanding and Kyle is just one sliver of the public speaking that I witnessed. It was remarkable. So, whatever you guys are doing, keep it up. It's amazing. Um just the leadership that's instilled in the kids. Um the camaraderie is incredible and um I'm just honored that we get to have this program at our high school. So you'll be hearing more from uh from our staff. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> All right. More from Superintendent. Thank you. And yeah, before I begin, I I will just comment very briefly that um I know this FFA programmatic shifts

030are not on the board's agenda um this evening, so you can't really deliberate on it. I will tell you my own history is that beginning of my career was in Los Angeles Unified, no exposure to FFA at all. When I went over the hill here to to Lakeside, um I was exposed to an phenomenal FFA program um and saw all the leadership and just I was absolutely blown away. First thing I did when I got here was um direct staff to rebuild the the the a farm up there uh the state of our facility. So the district remains 100% committed to the FFA program. We we'll work through these um programmatic um these programmatic uh adjustments that we're making right now, but the commitment is still there. Okay. Uh just a couple of updates. I

031actually have a few updates for the board. There's been a lot going on in the district recently. First, I want to um thank the city council for honoring, as they always do, our our schools, our SMUD schools during Red Ribbon Week. And if anybody wants a fun challenge, I challenge you to say Red Ribbon Week five times as fast as you can. And I bet you can't do it. Um this, as you know, is the Red Ribbon Week is uh designed to um highlight our commitment to student health, wellness, and prevention. And I want to thank our schools, our staff, our students for their strong participation and again thank our our city council and our mayor and uh and the folks at the city who always always come step up to honor our students. Also

032want to highlight that last year San Leho Elementary held their very first annual ability awareness week and it was so successful they did a second uh annual week this uh just just this past week. This is a a whole series of events designed to celebrate inclusion, empathy, and understanding um of different abilities across the campus. I had an opportunity to go up uh there by myself last week and I saw two of our my good friends. Uh Casey is a student who has cerebral palsy and was sharing with the students um a video sharing questions and answers with this with the students up there, but also sharing a video with a new speech uh speech recognition device. It really helps her be understood. Um, and then you see on the top left, this is our

033friend Jesse who was on my student advisory a couple of years ago. She's now graduated and she is out there. She's got her own little business that she has started. She's like on the speaker tour uh helping raise awareness about um autism and the sorry, yes, autism uh students on the autism spectrum and their their incredible abilities. She is a great kid. I didn't know she was going to be there. When she saw me, she was like, "Dr." and she came to give me a big old hug. Uh so I was super excited to see her there. We also, speaking of superintendent advisory, we had our first meeting. See a couple of familiar faces in that photo there. Uh, and I think the board knows that a couple of years ago, so I I formed

034this um advisory council my first year in the district five years ago, four and a half years ago. And not too long, much longer after that, I turned it over to the kids and it got hundred times better when once they drive the agenda. So these are monthly meetings where these students bring items that they would like to talk about and they like me to be aware of. Um, and they're always very very good conversations. We talked this last time about uh the use of technology in our classrooms. We talked about AI and what it all means. We talked about uh mental health and wellness resources across our district. So, I always look forward to these meetings. One of my favorite meetings of the month and our current leaders are really, really great. Since last

035year's leaders aren't here, I'll say you're the best [laughter] leaders we've ever had. Um also, last week we had the ribbon cutting for our brand new Mission Hills High School Wellness, and this was really, really exciting. Um, these students here are part of our peer counseling program at Mission Hills. And they I've got Rebecca and two of my Don't I? Oh, man. She owes me. >> She owes you. >> I just realized that. I'll talk to her later. Um, uh, these students these students helped actually write a $ 1.5 million grant to redo the whole center. Uh, they designed what they wanted the center to to to look like. Part of the money is just to fund some staffing for it. Um, and then they planned they spent a couple weeks planning this ribbon cutting

036and they were so excited to do the ribbon cutting, welcome all the guests. They ran the whole thing. It was awesome. Andres was there to represent the board. Uh, got to do a bunch of uh, activities with them. And I think this is just another really really good example of how in our strategic promise, our strategic promise is really focused on the whole student, the whole child. Um, and now the kids themselves are embracing this and they're they're counseling each other and it's it's just it's really phenomenal. So very very exciting to see all the cool things they're doing. They had the little panel there. They were all scripted out. They knew exactly which questions were going to whom and they did the whole thing and it was really really exciting to see their their

037excitement and their ownership. Uh apppropo that our Knobill friends are here with us this evening. I want to give a quick update on the Knobill uh construction project. It is on schedule. I want to thank before I say anything else, I want to thank all of our families, our students, and our amazing administrative staff and our teachers and our classified staff. Everybody who's over there. It's it's dusty. It's noisy. It's It's a little rough. Uh but it's going to be phenomenal. What you're a fifth grader. You won't get to see it, but your little brother is What grade are you in, bud? >> Third grade. Third grader is gonna get to see a gorgeous new campus. So, we are on schedule. There's uh one building in this. No, sorry. I'm on the next one. Uh

038underground plumbing and electrical for four buildings is in progress right now. They're doing footing excavation right now. Concrete pores next week. And Tova wanted me to tell you that vertical construction begins soon. >> Nice. That means that they're building up. >> I'm going to guess that vertical construction means that they're going up. Yeah. No, I just I I just wanted to make sure. Yes, that is absolutely what it means. I just wanted to make sure that that Toba heard me say vertical construction is starting soon because that's the way she talks. >> Andy, just so is Knob Hill the one that has a cool technology where they can do the virt. So, this is really cool. So, the uh the the construction crews have cut viewing uh windows in the fencing so that the kids

039can see. I want to also say I was there on the first I've been there many times this year. I was there on the first day of school. One of my the coolest first days of school ever is all these 5-year-olds show up for the very first time to school for kindergarten and they're like, "There's bulldozers, there's trucks, I love school." Like, it's going to be awesome. It's not going to be like this forever. But they were they're super excited. So, if you want to anybody in the room, if you can if you can get that QR code there, what they have done is they've cut a viewing hole in the in the window. And if you hit the QR code, see, it's on the right here. It's on the on the sign right next

040to the viewing hole. Do you see that? Where my Oh, my >> Yeah, right there. Right. Uh, let me see if I can click this if if this actually works. It uh shows you virtual reality of what you will be looking at through that hole once it's done. Let me see if it'll if it'll if it'll work. If you got the if anybody got the QR code, it'll work on your phone. Just takes a second to load and it's worth it. See? So then you can look around. You can look through the hole. >> Oh wow. >> That's what my school's going to look like. Isn't that cool? >> That is so cool. >> I don't see you guys in this in this one anyway, but these are fake people, but I thought that was

041like one of the coolest things I've ever seen. So >> that's so cool. >> Um yeah, I want to thank Toba and the team for that. Okay, Woodland Park is also underway. Uh is it working, Sarah? That's cool. Uh Woodland Park is also underway. There is one building in this phase being uh being prepared and being constructed now. So crews are focused right now on building utilities. They're currently doing the electrical for this one. Footing excavation is underway. Concrete pores started yesterday. Uh and their vertical construction begins very soon. So very excited about that. And then concluding um our construction update is that the SEO, the citizens bond oversight committee met last week. They have a quarterly meeting. It went very well from all reports. Um the district construction update was well received by the

042members. We got we're getting a lot of positive feedback from the from the committee here on on the district's transparency, communication and uh fiscal stewardship up to this this point uh in our work and they will meet again for their next quarterly meeting after the new year right early in 2026. So very excited about that and want to thank our all always want to thank our broader San Marcos community for um uh your your support of the of the uh of measure JJ and thank our members of the citizens bond oversight committee putting in their own time to come and help um keep eyes on the on the projects. Tonight's agenda has a couple of items on it. We have our Knob Hill uh friends who will be presenting on their school and all the

043cool things that they're doing. Also, we have a team who's going to talk give us our second um strategic promise update on our community school. So, the board is aware that a couple years ago, we wrote a community schools grant forme. That work is is going full speed ahead. And then we just had another grant written and received for LMA. So, they're just getting off the ground now. So, we have our team here ready to talk about uh the community schools. And we are going to do a presentation on risk management. Is Marissa here? I didn't even see Mara. There she is. So, um, I just want to frontload this one just a little bit. Marica works in risk management. All not all districts have a a risk management department. Most do. Um, in our

044district, it's very important. I know we've talked I I believe we've talked we've talked I think about the nesting doll. Did we talk about the Russian nesting? Okay. So, I'm going to nerd out for just half a second. The um the best um structured organizations out there are structured like those Russian nesting dolls. And for a school district that looks like the little the little doll in the middle is teachers and kids in their classroom. That's the whole reason we exist. If we don't have that, we don't have a we don't have a school system. Um in many school systems all those little dolls are all taken apart and they're all just sitting all separately. But in a system that is what they call tightly coupled. Then they're all nested nicely on top uh one

045inside the other. What that means in practice is that all of the other all of the kind of backend or the not necessarily in the spotlight um departments and functions of a school district all know and are intentional about their support of teaching and learning that's at the core. They're not just sitting off doing their own thing. So, I I wanted to I wanted to uh highlight that because whether it's risk or it's purchasing or it's M or it's transportation or CNS or whatever, all of our backend business uh departments really understand that and embrace that. You're going to hear a little bit of that tonight. You're going to hear a little bit from Marissa. Now, we did have to cut our slides down from about 78 slides to whatever we currently have. I've never

046met anybody who loves risk more than Marica. So, we we're Susie might have to put the timer on for you, too. Um, but I want you to hear some of the really amazing things she's done and particularly how Marica gets that poster up there and how she supports our schools so that they can do the things that they need to do in that poster and do it in a safe uh and sustainable way. So, that's my little preview and I probably already just given like half of your your presentation brief. And with that, I want to thank uh our board with Thanksgiving coming up here very soon. I want to thank our board for your unwavering support of our district and our strategic promise and all of our staff, our teachers, our support staff and

047our administrators for all the good hard work that everybody does every day. I'm happy to answer any questions if the board has them. >> Any questions? I just I did have a chance to pop by Knobill and Woodland Park um just because I'm really excited about the construction. So, I just kind Knill you can kind of just walk around and see it. You don't really have to go inside. Woodland Park you have to go inside because it's like in the back. Um, and it's really exciting to see um, the how quickly things are changing. Um, and uh, I'm I'm incredibly excited about I didn't know what that QR code was, so I'm really excited to do that next time I go. Um, so I can see it. Um, and again, I I think yes, happy

048Thanksgiving to to all of our staff and our students and families. >> Yeah. And I love >> Sorry, >> I was gonna say Andy, you're getting sappy, so I'm gonna get Sappy back. Um I will say that I'm super thankful for you and your whole cabinet. Um I know all of you work tirelessly for the district and a lot of that work is um behind the scenes and unnoticed and unseen by families and students and people in the community. And I just wanted to publicly thank you and tell you I am grateful for all the hard work that you guys all do. >> I was just going to ask I would really love to see a presentation by our peer counseling program in the future. Not anytime soon I guess when they collect their own

049data. Yeah. >> To see how many students they've supported and how they've worked with the counseling department as well and their support. So thank you. For sure. >> Thank you. You're welcome to use this remote. >> Good evening, Dr. Johnson, President Ahmad, and members of the board. I'm Amy Sinella, the proud principal at Knobill Elementary. >> Good evening. I'm Katie Zuber, the assistant principal. >> I'm Brenda and I'm a fifth grader at Knobill. >> Knobill Elementary is a schoolwide title one school currently serving about 700 students. Our campus serves preschool transitional TK through fifth grade and two extensive needs classrooms. This year, our schoolwide focus should probably switch the slide. There we are. Our schoolwide focus centers on ensuring that every student experiences a welcoming and inclusive environment that fosters a strong sense of belonging

050and positively impacts learning. We are also emphasizing highquality differentiated small groupoup instruction in reading that's aligned with grade level standards. All of our TK classrooms this year, our classroom teachers rather are being trained in GLAD, which will help us to strengthen instruction and reading, writing, and vocabulary. So, at the end of the year, we will have all of our teachers TK through fifth grade GLAD certified. Very exciting, and we're so grateful for this opportunity. This program uh will be very beneficial to all of our students, especially our emerging bilingual students. So, here are some additional pictures of our school rebuild. We are super excited that we've completed phase one. You see a photo here of the demolition. This was a demolition of our library, our multi-purpose room, as well as our cafeteria. So, unexpected, a

051little bit of tears. like there's so much excitement, but it was kind of bittersweet to see the buildings go down. It was um Knobill Park is right above, so lots of families, lots of excitement through the summer with people just coming, taking photos. Um so it it's very a very exciting time to be a part at of Knobill and be a Hawk. Phase 2 will be completed December of next year. So that's what's being built right now. Two twostory buildings. So this around this time next year, we will be moving into our TK classrooms, our first through fifth grade classrooms, our music library, and our steam classrooms, as well as the servery where our students will be served for breakfast and lunch. So we are being rebuilt and we have a bright new future. Even

052as our school undergoes an exciting rebuild, we've made it a priority to keep our traditions alive and to find creative ways to celebrate them. Our prep rallies are still going. We now hold them in the classrooms and our families are invited into the classroom and we do those virtually. So, we're keeping our school spirits high for all of our students and our school community. We recently hosted an annual Halloween festival. We do that every year and it was a huge success that highlighted our strong community connections. We're also building some new traditions like student performances that we are offering to our families at some of our neighboring schools and we're sharing our Hawk Pride beyond our campus. In January, our beloved Booster Thawn Joathon will take place in our front parking lot. Instead of obstacles,

053we'll have lots of bubbles. So through all of the change, our traditions, old and new, are continuing to bring us together and to make Knob Hill an amazing place to be. Our theme for the next two years is together we build, together we rise, which perfectly reflects our current journey. We're literally rebuilding our school while continuing to learn, grow, and thrive together. Building a new campus in the middle of a functioning school is not easy, but our staff, our students, and our families have shown incredible teamwork, resilience, and patience. Our community is fully invested in this process, and we're supporting one another. We're also embracing the San Marcos Unified School District portrait of a graduate, preparing our students to be curious, collaborative, and future ready. The photos here capture some of the energy and creativity

054that we see on campus. You see my friend touching the wall. That is a mural that all of the students in that are in the relocatable portables, they got to put their handprint on the wall. Um, and as it's it's fun watching them as they go by, they they actually high-five their handprint. It's adorable. So, it's just a bright spot in what would have been an otherwise somewhat dreary hallway. You see some of my friends in TK with the paint brushes. They are actually selecting colors that they would like to see in their future ready classrooms on the walls and everywhere around campus. You see students that are building things things from their lunch with like straws. They use Jenga pieces building blocks. So they're they're mirroring what they're what they're seeing uh through these

055viewing glasses. So while challenges do exist, we have some excitement as well. And Verinda is going to tell you a little bit more about that. At the start of this school year, our steam lab was buzzing with excitement. Our steam teacher, Miss Orsini, wanted to connect student learning to the real world construction happening. >> Can we get our mic? Can you get closer to the mic, sweetie? >> All around them on campus. During those first few weeks, every grade level explored engineering design and creativity through hands-on building projects. Our TK student built their own scrolls out of magnetiles, while kindergarteners created colorful construction art. Our first and second graders took it a step further by designing construction machine with moving parts. They were so proud to see their creations come to life. Meanwhile, third through

056fifth graders read If I Build a School and learned about the roles of structural engineering and architects. Then we became architects ourselves designing our own dream schools. Our drawings were combined into maps of our dream school which are now proudly displayed in classrooms. These projects not only connected to our rebuild theme, but also spark creativity, curiosity, and excitement for learning across all grade level. >> Thank you. Here's a picture of our classroom I developed with my partners as part of our school architect project. You'll see the usual elements like the teacher desk and student desk, but we've added some exciting engaging areas to enhance learning and creativity. These includes a craft station, a science lab, a sports corner, and even a movie theater area. Space is designed to inspire exploration, collaboration, and fun. At the

057top leftand corner there's a movie theater and then at the bottom leftand corner there's a baseball area and on top there's a science room with red tables and blue chairs with the door. Then at the bottom there's a craft station with the long table and blue chairs. Then we have a huge teacher desk and a yellow desk and green couches for the students. Then there's an elevator at the bottom with the door. One of the ways we foster a sense of belonging at Knob Hill is through student leadership in grades four and five. This year we have 120 student leaders who take on a variety of important roles around campus. These include safety and peace patrol, lost and found organizer, kindness crew, kindergarten breakfast helper, steam and library helper, student advisory council member, and even

058new student tour guides. I serve on the student advisory council and kindergarten breakfast helper. We meet with Miss Sella and Miss Zuber regularly to talk about how things are going at school and to give ideas to make our school a better place. To ensure students are prepared, each student completed a job application and went through training for their Pacific role. This process not only teaches us responsibility and teamwork, but also empowers us to take an active role in shaping our school community. Our student leaders are an example of how our school helps us student feel connected, capable, and valued as part of our school family. Last but not least, uh I'd like to thank Miss Sila and Miss Zuber to give me this opportunity. Thank you everyone. >> Thank you. >> Spotlight on PBIS. PBIS

059is POS positive behavioral interventions and supports. It's a framework to create positive, safe, equitable school environments. This slide represents some of the projects that we completed at Knob Hill beginning last year. Um, our timeline began in September 2024. We sent a team, myself, a school counselor, two teachers, and a parent to San Die San Diego County Education, Office of Education, sorry. And we completed five trainings. We developed a PLC for our classified staff as well as our certificated staff. our county coach came to our school site and we completed what's called the tiered fidelity inventory. So, it's basically a checklist and gives us a baseline of what PBIS looks like, uh, where we begin and where we should end. At the end of the school year in May, we had our second TFI inventory and

060we were able to complete some of the projects that are up here in a little bit. that I'll describe. Um the first part is our behavior management system. We revised this. So we received staff input. We at our PLC, we looked at what behavior looks like in terms of defiance as well as disrespect. We created this matrix and we outlined on the left an action plan and different levels of infractions. Um, next part our hawk matrix. I should probably use there we go. This is our matrix. So, our expectations are be safe, be responsible, be respectful, and be kind. So in each area of the school, we have labeled different actions of what expected behavior looks like for bathrooms, classrooms, hallways, eating area because we don't have a cafeteria currently, playground, and dismissal. In addition

061to that, one of our projects was completing a parent handbook. So within this handbook, there's a general explanation of what PBIS is. And then within the tier triangle, there are tier 1, two, and level three supports that families can understand where they are and potentially where they need to go in terms of help with their children. Um, next is our conflict resolution wheel. We because we don't have a playground, we are trying to make sure that students are advocating and solving their own problems. So, we have utilized this wheel and our PE classes on the playground and our noon time supervisors have a pocket-size chart that they can carry around to intervene and help students solve problems. Um, we have implemented acknowledgement systems so we encourage students to be safe, be respectful, be responsible. They

062earn tickets. They can earn pizza part a pizza party. They can shop at our prize cart and they can earn extra recess. Another intervention that we utilize is this year we created a golden ticket. So for our specials, steam, PE, music, and library, we have the teachers nominate a class of the month that is exhibiting positive behavior and our expectations. And last, we created a schoolwide reflection sheet to build continuity and consistency. We wanted to ensure that in the primary grades students would be able to draw if they cannot write to explain their behavior, what happened and how it impacts themselves or others. Upper graders are expected to write and reflect on their behavior. Next is I can. I can is new to Knob Hill this year. It is improving chronic absenteeism network. It's through

063San Diego County Office of Education. This has been a wonderful opportunity for our school. We created a team again with our counselor, a clerk, community liaison, and myself. Our goal is to improve attendance, improve a sense of belonging, build and build partnerships with families. So, we created goals. Again, we attended um a training at the county office of education in July. So last year, our data was was 9.6 chronic absenteeism. This year, by the end of the year, we expect to be at 9.1%. Our current chronic absenteeism rates has been floating around 4.4 and 7.2. So, we've already met our goal. We want to sustain this. We've been doing exceptional um the last couple weeks, but Veterans Day was a difficult area. So, we in the absenteeism rate increased. Um we have tier one and

064two interventions for this program. So, we're utilizing data to create focus students. We have 30 focused students. With these focus students, we are sending letters home, making phone calls, completing home visits, providing backpacks, and also providing resources for families. And a few successes to note, right before parent teacher conferences, so October 3rd, we uh reduced our absences by half. And then Veterans Day weekend compared to this year and last year we had a increase. However, we improved from last year. So this year we had 37 absences. Last year we had 42. And then on um November 12th, so right after the holiday, this year we had 28 absences. Last year we had 42 absences. In terms of grade level chronic absenteeism, our TK students are at 27.3%. Our kindergarten classrooms are at 6.9%. First grade

0654.4, second grade 9.1%, third grade 6.6%. Fourth grade 1.9% and fifth grade 5.7%. Lastly, I just want to thank our staff and our families for sending their students to school and our staff for creating the leg work to create opportunities for kids to be motivated to come to school. So, we will continue to work hard at maintaining traditions and strengthening our sense of belonging at Knobill. Even in the midst of our construction, we've also been focusing on family engagement. It's important for us to involve our families because we want to make sure that they're connected and because we have to change some of our events, it's know that we're keeping that at the forefront, our family involvement. This year we've had three principles chats all with record parent attendance. We've done these in years past.

066I think at the for at the first one we had maybe 40 people in attendance which was amazing. And to support our transparency with our families about our construction projects. We've invited Tova Corman, our executive director of facilities to each of those parent chats and she's had the opportunity to answer questions which I know our families have very much appreciated. Our partnerships also remain strong with Mission Hills High School. We had many of the students that are on the Grizzlies football team and cheer team come I say come back because 75% of them I knew them although they look different like I I'm like they look different in these photos. Um so it was a very exciting day just to have the kiddos come over and join our students and encourage them. We also have

067Mission Hills High School students that are in the CTE child development program that will be supporting our our students, our classrooms, 15 students, most of them are returning Hawks, giving back to their school community, which I love. So, we're also proud of our PTO partnerships. This year, PTO is funding the fit kids program, which typically is an afterchool enrichment program. Our PTO is funding the fit kids program to come in three days a week to provide structured activities for our students with our limited space. So, we're very, very thankful for our PTO. Through all of this, our focus remains on community, creativity, and connection, keeping our school spirit, and our sense of belonging strong. Thank you. We appreciate your your um you listening and thank you to our family that came out this evening. >>

068Thank you, Amy. Thank you Vera for a great presentation. I hope we can uh you know incorporate some of your ideas in the new classrooms. Maybe >> I just want to say that I think it's amazing how you guys are making lemonade with the lemons. You know, just all the creative ways you're incorporating building and engineering. Like it's the perfect opportunity to just embrace it instead of like fighting it. and you're modeling resiliency to the kids and it's phenomenal. So, thanks for the presentation. >> Yeah. >> Adaptability. >> Yeah. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> All righty. Um, next we have strategic promise update goal number two community schools by Mandy B. Uh, oh god, I'm going to Mandy Bedard, principal on special assignment, and Adelita Gonzalez, community schools coordinator. Did I

069butcher someone's name? Okay. >> Good evening, Dr. Johnson, board president Ahmad, and esteemed members of our governing board and superintendent cabinet. We are incredibly excited to share the powerful work taking place through our district's community schools initiative. My name is Mandy Badard and I serve as a principal on special assignment in our ED services department. My work centers on strengthening our district's multi-tered system of support for each and every student. As part of this effort, I have the privilege of collaborating closely with our community schools coordinator, Mrs. Adelita Gonzalez, who is co-presenting with me this evening. A cornerstone of our work is how it builds and deepens relationships with our families and the broader community. We are also honored to be joined tonight by one of parents, Mrs. Anna Lilia Lopez, who will also share

070her perspective as part of this presentation. As we share SMUSD's journey, it's important to begin with a shared understanding of what a community school is. The California Department of Education defines a community school as a whole child school improvement strategy where districts and schools work closely with teachers, students, families, and community partners. The Coalition for Community Schools expands on that, describing it as both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, health, social services along with community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities. In essence, a community school is the heart and hub of its community. Our district's community schools journey began in 2021, as Dr. Johnson alluded to in his um update for this evening. When we first explored the

071model and engaged with potential sites where student needs were the greatest. And in May of 2022, San Marcos Elementary was awarded a community schools planning grant, launching a year of collaboration between the site and district to conduct focus groups and a comprehensive needs assessment. The findings informed our implementation grant application which was successfully awarded during the 2024 2025 school year. SME continued to refine the implementation plan based on data and stakeholder feedback. As Dr. Johnson shared earlier. We are thrilled that SMUSD was awarded a second implementation grant for Lamada Academy, which began its first year of implementation this school year, while San Marcos Elementary entered its thirds. Community schools are grounded in and guided by four core pillars that together form a comprehensive strategy for strengthening student learning and development. The first of which is

072integrated student supports. Student success is achieved by meeting their academic, physical, social, emot emotional, and mental health needs. The second pillar, family and community engagement, involves actively tapping the expertise and knowledge of family and community members to serve as true partners in supporting and educating students. The third pillar, collaborative leadership and practice, establishes a culture of professional learning, collective trust, and shared responsibility for outcomes that includes students, families, staff, and community members. And the fourth pillar, expanded learning time and opportunities, includes academic support, enrichment, and realworld experiences that extend learning beyond the traditional day. With these pillars as our foundation, I'm now going to turn it over to Adelita, who's going to share how these four pillars are being brought to life across our San Marcos Unified Community Schools. We're excited to highlight some of

073the offerings and partnerships within our community schools pillars, beginning with integrated student supports, the foundation for ensuring every student's basic needs are met. In partnership with Trueare, we launched monthly on-site mobile health clinics providing comprehensive medical and dental care, immunizations, and flu shots. Since the start of the school year, 214 students have received services, resulting in improved attendance, increased self-confidence, and greater participation in athletics. We also address food insecurity through partnerships with Feeding San Diego and North County Food Bank, ensuring consistent access to fresh and nutritious meals. So far this year, has distributed 2,64 meals with services continuing year round, including during school breaks, because we know how vital this resource is to our community. The family and community engagement pillar is a critical part of our community schools model. When families are informed, connected,

074and supported, students thrive. We offer family learning seminars on topics such as emotional well-being, the importance of attendance, and establishing home literacy routines. These sessions help build confidence, and empower families to take an active role in their child's education. In partnership with San Marcos Adult School, we also host evening ESL classes atme for parents and caregivers. We currently have 35 adult learners enrolled and 40% are simultaneously pursuing their high school diploma. A powerful example of multi-generational learning and the lasting impact of family engagement. This deepened trust and shared learning leads naturally to building family leadership and capacity, which you'll hear more about from Anna Lilia. She will speak first in Spanish and then she'll translate her experience to English. participan. When the community school initiative arrived as thememe there was a drastic change in the

075way I as a parent view and participate in my son's education. Being part of the volunteer group at ELAC in the food distribution and the community school um council, I can deep d deeper into my son's educational journey. I was empowered by with the professional training such as street data that help me strengthened my leadership skills to support and encourage other other parents who like me are interested in the educational well-being of their children. Raising a child is not easy which is why a united community is necessary to cover all the areas of need that surround all children. Thank you so much, Analia. Our third pillar, collaborative leadership and practice, ensures that students, staff, families, and partners all have a voice in shaping our school's vision. We strengthen relationships and belonging through restorative justice practices,

076training for both certificated and classified staff. This evidence-based strategies support morning circles, student restorative circles, and family circles, helping build more a more connected school community. Was also selected to join the inaugural street data cohort, a year-long professional learning experience led by author Shane Saphir. A team of teachers, parents, partners, and ad administrators worked together to address chronic absenteeism and belonging among fourth and fifth graders using empathy interviews and focus groups. The team identified key insights that now guide current actions. Additionally, both sites participate in the improving chronic absentee network I can weekly attendance site meetings focused on data analysis and implementing researchbased strategies ensuring continuous improvement in our systems of support. Our fourth pillar, expanding learning time and opportunities creates meaningful and engaging experiences during the during and after school. We have broadened our

077after-school enrichment offerings including STEM programming with CalState San Marcos, academic tutoring and cultural programs such as Bal for Chlorico. These experience help students explore interests, develop new skills, and envision future pathways. During the school day, students engage in realworld learning through partnerships like the Poseidon Via's Water District Educational Program where they collected data and learned about engineering and environmental careers. Our partnership with La Hoya Playhouse provides access to professional theater performances and a Q&A sessions with actors and technicians offering many students a firsttime experience in the arts. Atme also launched a hands-on garden science class aligned to the next generation science standards. This experience integrates environmental learning, sustainability, and academic contact in meaningful ways. Through these expanded opportunities, students grow academically, socially, personal and p personally preparing them to be truly future ready. The community

078school pillars directly advance our district strategic promise by ensuring future ready system. Expanded learning and integrated student supports cultivate innovative enriching experiences de developed future ready students and collaborative leadership and strong family engagement. Build the inclusive relationship centered cultural essential for the future ready learning environments. Community schools are the strategic promise in action advancing equity, belonging, collaboration, and whole child success. Thank you. Before you before the before they sit down, the board may recall that at the welcome back this year at um San Marcos High, I highlighted couple of faces of future ready students. One of them was a student named Mida who is now at Berkeley studying quantum information science. Alita's mom, proud mom. So I wanted to you weren't there that day. She was remember she was driving her right. So I wanted

079to highlight that. Congratulations. How is she doing? >> She's doing great. I can't wait for her to come for Thanksgiving, though. >> Very good. Well, congratulations. >> Thank you, Adelita. I know how much work you put into this. Um I' I've been to many of the events and you're always there. Um this I wish we could do this at every school. I really truly believe in the community school model and that it is what ideally every school would have to provide what that group that neighborhood group needs um for the students and also for the community members. I'm always surprised. I don't know why I'm constantly surprised when I go that there are community members who attend these events who might not have kids in our school, but they still need access to the resources

080that we make available to them. And it's something that I'm I'm really proud of specifically because I firmly believe that these are taxpayer funded buildings and resources for the entire community and being able to use them in that manner that you do is is something that you should be so proud of and I'm very proud of it. Thank you to the to your whole team really. Thank you. All right, moving on to item number 7.3, risk management presentation by Marissa board. Is my pleasure to introduce Marica Evans. She's our director of risk management. Um, for many, the topic of risk management can conjure up thoughts of liabilities, complex legal issues. Um, but Marica truly flip flips that script. Um, she views her role as proactively safeguarding our entire community and ensures that every student and

081staff member as as safe as possible every single day. She's a trusted resource that many um of our staff across the district have on speed dial and knowing that she will drop everything to provide thoughtful assistance um whenever and um wherever her expertise is needed. So with that, Marica, please share with us more about the risk management department. >> Thank you, Erin. Good evening. Um, members of the board, Superintendent Johnson, I'm very excited to be here this evening. Um, Dr. Johnson is right. I do nerd out on risk management and we did have to dwindle the presentation down. So, I will do my very best um to give a snapshot and overview um of our department information um responsibilities and objectives, workers compensation overview, and what our program structure looks like for um property and

082liability insurance. and then the various programs that we oversee and have developed in the risk department since our department has been created. Um and then the positive changes that we've made in collaboration with peers um not only in leadership but our administrators at the school sites and teachers and students. So um with that we'll move right on. Um in this picture here you'll see um my small but mighty team who's here in support. So, we have Maria Elena Raone in the audience and Urettzi Delawerta. I'm truly honored to work with these ladies. Um, they're extremely passionate about risk management. So, that makes me really excited because I get to share my passion with them. Um, so we provide support in a gamut of areas. um not only in workplace safety and employee training, injury and

083illness prevention, but um to name all of the things that I do or that we do as a team, um it would take me the rest of the evening and I don't want to keep you here that long. Um but we strive to create safe learning environments for our students and our staff members, investing in what matters to them. Um partnering partnering with our leaderships and site admin to create safer environments for all of our students. And so 18,500 students, we're a little over that today and um over 3,400 staff members. Um so very proud of that. And we also help create the volunteer program for the school district. Um and then our parent community. So comprehensive insurance oversight and our asset management overview is also in our purview. Um so just effectively ensuring what

084we have as our assets for our 27 district-owned sites. Um the bus and white fleet and um all of our associated content within those facilities. So various realms of what we do for joint powers authority insurance pooling. It's a very complex dynamic. Um I won't bore you with all of that. So, health and safety compliance, regulatory and program oversight. Um, some of the things that we created since um risk management was created back in 2021 as a department was um our drone management program that's compliant with the FAA. Um our ADA compliance service animal program, chemical management and inventory, um science, chemical hygiene, OSHA compliance, and so much more. Um emergency preparedness, we play a vital role in that. and also community um and program support. So our PTO presidents, I had the pleasure of

085working with a lot of them in past years with Dr. Johnson and so PTO presidents reach out to me and ask for resources about their insurance coverage. What kind of activities can they have? Um so I'm more than willing to help support all of our PTOs because they do great things for our school sites. So just to give you a snapshot of our program structure for workers compensation on the left um is our prior joint powers authority. One of my goals in coming to the district is to evaluate our insurance program and find out how we're transferring our risk our risk. So identifying it and prioritizing it. Um one of the things that I thought that was important is that in the prior JPA you'll see at the first $100,000 we were responsible for every

086single claim filed. Um when we transferred over July 1 of 22 to the new JPA, we belong to the PIPS program now in the joint powers authority. Um we've transferred that risk completely at the first cent of each individual claim, meaning that our future financial liability is protected on the claims filed from July 1. So some of the things that risk management has done um since we made that switch is board policy and administrative regulation updates. um our return to work program very effective and um returning our staff back to being healthy in their environment, what they were hired to do and support kids. Um and then rigorous and accurate tracking of leaves for our employees so it's accurate. They're aware of what's happening in the process and so we support them through that. Just

087some highlights and key takeaways for you. um since July 1 of 22 when we made that switch um we've eliminated that coverage where we're responsible for the first $100,000 of each individual claim. So SMUSD has transferred $2.1 million in risk over to a joint powers authority insurance and that number counts is counting every day. Um 7122 moving forward um created the effective return to work program made those changes. So there's been a savings of $353,000 um related to that and counting that number goes up daily. Um from 71 transferring the interactive process meetings, we uh the district used to consult with a third party to perform those meetings and we've transferred those in-house to risk management. So we performed those in collaboration with our human resources department and that savings is $107,000 since we've made

088that change and counting. And then um I think the big ticker is that as of 6:30 2025, we've reduced workers compensation claims by 26.62% comparatively speaking to the old program structure and the old JPA. Um liability coverage, same scenario here on the left. Prior JPA, um we were responsible for the first $100,000 of each claim filed against the district. Moving over to Southern California Relief, the new JPA. As of July 1, we are only responsible for our MRL, which stands for member retained limit, or as most of us know it as deductible. Um, and we're also insured up to $75 million um per claim rather than 50 million. Um, making that switch over is a $310,000 savings in annual savings in premiums for coverage. Um, that's a $1.24 million saved to date. We have broader

089coverage and we have additional coverages. Um, insurance coverage has increased nationwide, which I'm sure all of you are aware of. Your homeowners insurance is probably impacted by what's happening nationwide. Um, so the SCR members, the district members all um are experiencing an 18% to 20% increase in those premiums, but San Marcos Unified um our increase was only 6%. um which reflects in a strong strong program performance and a reduction in our losses. So we're lower than the majority of the member districts in SCR. Um property coverage, same deal. Um first $100,000 on that left hand side. Um on for STR, we are $50,000 deductible and then we transfer our risk completely for each individual claim. Um we have broader coverage, we have additional coverages. I think the important note here is that we now have

090a um every 5 years we have an asset management assessment meaning that a third party comes in goes through our facilities identifies every piece of property that we have and we're ensuring for its current market value and that really does matter. Um we that report is also utilized by various departments in the district including maintenance and operation and facilities. It assists them as well. Um so risk management oversees restitution and recovery. um for any claims that are filed for property loss. We manage thirdparty recovery um and responsible for external party and insurers and we support departments in coordinating repairs and after the incident and putting their content back into the classroom so that they can get back to doing what they do best. Um so my world isn't all about insurance um even though I'd

091love it. Um I will talk about the other things that are really exciting. typically uh risk management has a stigma of being the no department and that is not the department that we are at San Marcos. So um one of the great things that I love to do is go out and spend time with our employees that have high hazard occupations and how can we help support them? Ergonomics isn't just about someone sitting at a desk for eight hours a day or a teacher's desk in a classroom. It's also about the body mechanics of what these people do for a living day in and day out. So, a good example is um I noticed during our mechanics visit that we have some folks that leave lug nuts and different various metal objects on the ground

092that roll underneath the bus. So, now they have telescopic um metal picker uppers that will help them with that so they're not crawling underneath the buses to get those types of things and knee pads and various things that we've identified that that can help prevent work-related injuries. um grounds employees, they are using a lot of uh tools that vibrate um just like leaf blowers and weed whackers. So we purchased everybody antiibration gloves and it prevents them from having wrist injuries and the pain that they were having. So just a couple of examples. Um the risk management team also plays a vital part in emergency preparedness and response for the district. Um in 2324 as part of a big initiative um we worked with our EOC uh co-partners for emergency operation command team and our nursing

093staff and provided in-person stop thebleleed training at all of our sites. 2425. We did um emergency evacuation equipment for our two-story facilities and then um just moving it here to the North County Regional Education Center in collaborations with SDCE um leading that for our school sites and what evacuation looks like. So, this is just a couple of those pictures to give you an idea of what that is. Um various committees and teams that we participate in. This is a small list, but I had to dwindle it down because it looked too busy. Um, so we're on the emergency operations command team. A risk management also runs the emergency reuni reunification process. In the event of an evacuation, our team deploys and we work with sites so we can get kiddos back to their families expeditiously,

094as fast and as safely as possible. Um, we're also on the safety implementation subcommittee. Um, so all the great things that you see happening out at the school site, we sit on that committee um to help uh do the things that we have this vision for safety on for our schools and our teachers and our students. Um, we're also I'm also on the site safety assessment team. Um, and then I'm on the SMUSD and SDCE emergency response team and the traffic safety committee. So, some things that come to risk management um may seem out of the ordinary, but I get these innovative calls from principles like, "Hey, Marica, can we do something like a skate club?" And I'm not going to default to no, we can't do that. It's like, how can we do that?

095And this is going to take some time, but we're going to work the logistics and we'll figure it out. So, we did that for Woodland Park. And then I get a call from San Marcos Elementary that says, "Hey, Marica, can we make this applicable to fourth and fifth graders so that they can transition?" And I said, "Absolutely." So now has their uh skate club um and they love it. They love it. I got to see it recently. So um parking lot assessments also to address student safety. Sometimes I'll get phone calls to say, "Maresica, I'm I'm really interested in you coming out to do an assessment on traffic to help improve pickup and drop off." And so we created a safety traffic committee and now we will be looking at all school sites to help

096improve that. Um this is one that we've worked collaboratively with on with our CTE uh program and VAPA program. But this is a very typical classroom environment. It's very busy. You've got six periods of students and their projects. It is extremely busy. So when I do site walkthroughs, I am a person that doesn't go in and say, "Hey teacher, right, is there something you could be doing?" No, let me help you. So we identified that and we this past summer, this was um my big takeaway for the summer is that we went from an environment that is extremely busy to turning it into something that is not only conducive for learning but also conducive for teaching. And we had a great relationship with the teacher in this environment. The students were part of it. In

097fact, the day before the end of the school uh the beginning of the school year, we went in and this student said, "Can you please come and be our guest speaker because we want to learn more about OSHA and safety." So, um now we're partnering with the rest of the CTE programs at Mission Hills right now. Um, and I think part of that is once we start this process, the teachers are very interested in integrating that compliance component because when these kiddos go out into the world, um, learning all of these pathways, they'll have that added addition of knowing about compliance for OSHA and the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Environmental Health, and things of that nature. >> Do some of our kids receive OSHA cards when they do training through their CTE classes? Not

098yet. No. That's a great goal. I love it. Um and so I think that's all I have for you this evening except for our goals moving forward. Some of our focus points. Um we're going to be conducting well actually it's already under way for Mission Hills High School, but um CTE and VAPA classroom safety assessments. We've done safety assessments for um CTE and VAPA at San Marcos High. And we still have VAPA at Mission Hills High, but we've done CTE there. and we're going to be making a lot of positive changes um in collaboration with the teachers. It's really important for us to understand what their vision is and what they want these kiddos to walk away with. So, doing the right thing for our students so that they're future ready. Um and then we're

099going to be completing a comprehensive district-wide mapping program. We just finished over 200 base maps for all of our school site locations. So this will help enhance safety and emergency preparedness districtwide by building some consistency and also continuity for the district to have a platform ongoing into the future. Um providing compliance support for new state senate and assembly bills. Um so I'm on those various teams for all of our new ones coming up um for 2026. And then um risk management always has a daily goal of continuing to support staff for the success of our students. Um program improvements um and everything that we do in risk management is not possible without the collaborative efforts um from leadership and administrators, teachers and even the students. So I just would like to leave you with one

100of my favorite quotes by Henry Ford. Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success. So, thank you for having me tonight. I appreciate being able to share. >> All right. Um, report by board members. Does anyone that have anything they would like to say or report? >> I just have a quick um Oh, sorry. [laughter] Um, I'm I'm on the Lions Club, I think. I don't know if everybody knows that, but um, one of the projects that we do is a peace poster contest. And so I had reached out to the principles and Nikki worked with her art department and so Sam Marcos Middle submitted like over a hundred. They did it was awesome. Um and she you know she talked more about like really liking to hear about

101the community engagement projects like that. So um for Lions they do that's for middle school is the peace poster. Um and then in high school they do the student speaker contest. So they'll come talk to us about that I'm sure um coming up. So, they're really good um programs to kind of integrate the community with. Um, and the other thing I'm trying to do with them is John came to talk uh last month or the month before about really bridging the gap between um our older population in San Marcos and our younger population because, you know, having that benefits both um our younger people learn from our older people and the older people, you know, they they live fuller lives with the with the younger people. So, um, we're trying to work on something that

102can also help with that. >> I think John has a few options. I think there's a few students that reached out to him, too. So, um, my daughter participated in the Lions speaker contest. So, and that is a very good program um or opportunity. Casey, did you want to say something? >> Okay. Andreas, >> I was just going to say um I wanted to thank the city of San Marcus for the partnership, especially with the ebike. Um, I watched the council meeting the other night and I appreciate the messaging and the work that we have together with our uh, P information officer Christine back there. Uh, but anyway, thank you and Dr. Johnson and our cabinet for maintaining that positive relationship with the city and just other than going to that wellness center. Bravo to

103those kids. I I loved it. It was awesome. Wish we had that in high school. >> Yeah. Um, I got to visit the wellness center before I think right before they started constructing it. I didn't get a chance to go at this time. So, I do want to go visit. I think it's an incredible space for our students and that the fact that it's being run by our students is even more amazing. Um, speaking of our students, the ability fair, I didn't get to go this year, but it's one of, if you guys have not gone, I always recommend that you attend that ability fair. Um, and then I just wanna I think Susie next tomorrow we have uh two playoffs, right? So, good luck to the teams and then this is our last uh

104meeting before Thanksgiving. So, I wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving break and I will echo Heidi's message to the staff and our teachers and also our classified staff. Thank you for everything, our families and of course our students who make us so very proud every day. So, thank you for that. All right, action agenda. Oh, wait. We have one thing. >> She she left. I just wanted to Well, we'll tell her when she comes back. Uh Jennifer Machado works up in the my office and she has uh decided to move to Montana. So, she this will be her last board meeting. you she's usually see her quietly in the back uh running running the live stream in the Zoom the the Zoom live or the YouTube live or whatever it is we do for the

105live stream and and I said I would like to recognize her and have the board smile at her and she left the room so we'll make sure we tell her when she yeah that's okay she's I suppose she's allowed to use the restroom but yeah just wanted to highlight that when she comes back >> there she is thank you Jennifer are. [laughter] >> We will miss you. You'll have to share pictures of your home in Montana. >> Thank you. All right. Um action agenda 9.1. Board approval to hold the 2025 organizational meeting of the San Marcos Unified School District governing board on December 11th, 2025. Andy? >> Yes. Education Code requires that the board adopt the date of the annual organizational meeting at the regular board meeting uh prior to the organizational meeting which must

106be held between December 1st and December 20th, 2025. It happens every December. This is the organizational meeting where the board will elect a president, vice president, and clerk for the 2026 calendar year. So the date for the organizational meeting of the governing board of San Marcos Unified is proposed for December 11th, which is our next uh regular meeting. >> Fantastic. So, do I have a motion to approve the holding the 2025 organizational meeting of the San Marcos Unified School District governing board on December 11, 2025? >> Second. >> Uh, who who was in? Okay. Moved by member Heric, seconded by member Martin to approve the organizational meeting of 2025 as presented. Student board reps have left. Um, all those in favor say I. Any opposed? Motion carries. All right. N item number 9.2. Two, student

107expulsion case number 1-25.26. Tiffany, >> the board has heard the details of this case in close session. Staff recommends approval of expulsion case number 0225.26. >> Sorry. Sorry. Thank you for councing this. >> All right, just a correction. This is student expulsion case number 2-25.26. Okay. Thank you. All right. Do I have a motion to approve student expulsion case number 2-25.26. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by member Miam, seconded by member Martine to approve student expulsion case number2-25.26. 26. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. All right. 9.3. Approval of amendment to employee agreement. Employment agreement for superintendent. All right. The Brown Act requires that the governing board prior to taking final action on an employment agreement to orally report a summary of recommendation for the salaries, salary schedules

108or compensation paid in form of fringe benefits for local agency executives. The superintendent is a local agency executive and a proposed contract amendment is before us this evening. There are no changes to the current term of the agreement or any revisions to previously approved salary or other benefits. However, the proposed agreement, if approved, would require the district make an annual contribution into a 403b account for the superintendent in the amount equivalent to the IRS codes maximum amount or defer for of defer deferable compensation capped as set in 2026 from this point forward during the term of the agreement. Do I have a motion to approve the amendment to the employment agreement for the superintendent? >> Make that motion. >> And I'll second. So moved by member Martin, seconded by member Ahmad to approve the amendment

109as presented. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. All right. Do we have uh do we have to sign it right now? No. >> Okay. All right. Consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda for discussion purposes? >> Move to approve. >> I'll second. Moved by member um Carlson. Seconded by member Ahmad to approve the consent agenda for discussion purposes. Is there any discussion? Okay. Moved by member uh Carlson, seconded by member Ahmad. Student board representatives representatives are no longer here. So all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed. Motion carries. Agenda 11.1 Quarterly report of financial disclosures for the period ending September 30th, 2025. Aaron, the government code requires school districts to disclose its investments quarterly to the governing board. Tonight's report is for the

110quarter ending September 30th, 2025 when um SMUSD had a total of $348 million of funds invested in various accounts. 1.2 million was invested in various FDIC insured bank accounts. also had $13.7 million invested in accounts related to our various CFD and financing authority accounts to be used for facility and construction purposes only. The majority of funds on deposit, almost $334 million, were invested with the San Diego County Treasures Schools investment pool as required. The investment pool earned an annual interest rate of 3.76% for the first quarter of this fiscal year. Okay. 11.2 revisions to existing governing board policies BP 3515 campus security BP3515.4 recovery of property loss or damage and BP 3403400 management of district assets and accounts. Aaron Business Services is bringing three board policy updates for review tonight and these will be brought

111back to the board in December for final approval. Um, first, board policy 3515 campus security is being updated to reference the Department of Homeland Security's behavioral threat assessment guide and states that the district may form a multi-disciplinary team to identify and manage potential threats, which the district already has in place. Board policy 3515.4 Four for recovery for property loss or damage is updated to reference current parent guardian liability limits for the cost of damages caused by their minor child. Um, additionally, it clarifies that debt may not be collected for damages caused by a student experiencing homelessness or a foster child. and board policy 3400, management of district assets and accounts, is being updated to expand the dollar limits for asset reporting and for capital asset tracking and inventory reporting in our financial statements. >> Thank

112you. All right. 11.3 revisions to existing governing board policy BP1312.1 complaints concerning district employees. Joel. >> Yes. Uh good evening board members. Thisformational item includes recommended revisions to board policy 1312.1. Um, as president Aman mentioned, complaints concerning district employees. The proposed revisions clarify that complaints will be investigated by the superintendent's design with appeals routed to the superintendent for final determination. The updated language also outlines new options for how the superintendent reviews appeals, including determining whether to uphold the design's uh decision without hearing the complaint, appointing an appeals committee, or hearing the complaint themselves. Additionally, the revisions introduce uh the uh vacious complainant provision allowing the superintendent or designated to dismiss complaints from individuals who have filed multiple unsubstantiated complaints within the uh preceding four years. It's important to note that the existing policy language stating

113that any complaints about the superintendent are to be submitted directly to the board of education remains unchanged. Uh this is an information item uh with uh uh with a plan to bring back in December for recommended board action. >> Thank you. >> All right. 11.4 revisions to existing governing board policies BP6142.7 physical education and activity. Tiffany >> Educational Services is recommending an update to BP6142.7 PE and Activity. This update would allow student athletes in grades 10 through 12 to receive up to 20 credits in PE by successful participation in regular school sponsored CIF athletics done after regular school hours. Of note for the update, all students are required to take PE in 9th grade and will remain. uh students with access to an athletic PE that is connected to their sport, for example, football PE,

114basketball PE, are not eligible for this option. This policy update will be brought back to the board next month in December for final approval. >> Thank you, Tiffany. >> All right, with that, we're on to our closing items. The next meeting of the governing board is the organizational meeting and will take place on Thursday, December 11th, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. in the media center of the North County Regional Educational Center, 255 Pico Avenue, San Marcos, California, 92069. And with that, this meeting is now adjourned. Thank you. Good night.